Being imbued with President Ho Chi Minh’s teaching: “Emulating means being patriotic and vice versa. Emulators are the best patriots”, officers and soldiers of the Air Defence - Air Force (AD-AF) have constantly upheld the spirit of Patriotic Emulation and Determined-to-win Emulation to build an increasingly strong Service that can successfully complete all assigned tasks, firmly protecting the national airspace.

Thoroughly grasping and seriously implementing President Ho Chi Minh’s thought of patriotic emulation, after its foundation on 22^nd October 1963, the AD-AF creatively put into practice and successfully organised several patriotic emulation movements and revolutionary activities, achieving top emulation in all aspects, creating a vibrant and widespread emulation atmosphere that made an important contribution to enhancing the political bravery, the quality of training and combat capability. Additionally, it helped to improve the ability to develop and master weapons and equipment and develop and apply the art of AD-AF combat.

Thanks to the successful implementation of Determined-to-win Emulation Movements at all levels in the Service, the political bravery of soldiers has been steadfast; the system of party organisations and commanding organisations has been clean and strong; agencies and units have been comprehensively strong, “exemplary and typical”; internal unity has been achieved while discipline has been strengthened; the quality of education and training, exercises, flight management and operation, etc. have been gradually improved; the technical, logistic, and financial work have been fully and timely guaranteed. Additionally, there has been a significant improvement in the vigilance and the combat readiness of the AD-AF so that it can timely and effectively handle airborne situations to firmly protect the national airspace without being passive or stunned. On virtue of outstanding feats in its construction, combat, and development, the AD-AF has been awarded with noble prizes by the Party, State, and Ministry of National Defence, which has motivated its officers and soldiers to overcome difficulties to complete all assigned tasks.

An isllustrative photo (Source: qdnd.vn)

Currently, the tasks of training, combat readiness, airspace management, flight operation, etc. have placed increasingly high requirements with diverse, complex, and urgent nature that require the AD-AF’s Party Committee and Command to focus on leading and directing agencies and units to uphold the spirit of patriotic emulation while synchronously and comprehensively implementing guidelines and measures to build a “revolutionary, regular, elite, and modern” Service in light of the Resolution of the 13^th Party Congress, the Resolution of the 11^th Military Party Congress, and the 10^th Party Congress of the Service to firmly protect the national sky.

First of all, promoting the emulation movements to build strong units in terms of politics, ideology, ethics, and the quality of officers, thus successfully completing all assigned tasks. Accordingly, party committees and commanders at all levels need to thoroughly grasp and effectively implement resolutions and directives of the Central Committee and the Central Military Commission on emulation and commendation work. Concretising and effectively applying emulation criteria in political education, ideological management, organisation building, and implementing moral standards for revolutionary soldiers as well as “elite AD-AF soldiers”. Stepping up propaganda and education for soldiers so that they are aware of the position and significance of emulation and commendation work and can thoroughly grasp Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh’s thought as well as the military and national defence viewpoints and guidelines of the Party, the tasks of the Army, the Service, their units, and their assigned responsibilities. Besides, they should be politically strong and loyal to the Fatherland, the Party, the State, and the People. The soldiers are to proactively overcome difficulties to fulfil the task of combat readiness, contributing to the firm protection of the national sky. Continuing to learn and follow Ho Chi Minh’s thought, morality, and style in association with the implementation of the Campaign entitled “Promoting traditions, devoting talents, deserving to be “Uncle Ho’s Soldiers” in the new situation”; effectively implementing the Project entitled “The Army prevents and combats “peaceful evolution” in the ideological and cultural fields”; resolutely preventing officers and cadets from political, moral, and lifestyle degradation, thus avoiding internal “self-evolution” and “self-transformation”.

Closely combining emulation and commendation work with ideological, organisational, policy, and cadre works in the modernisation and building of an “elite, compact, and strong” Service; combining the consolidation of party organisations and commanding organisations with the improvement of leadership capability, combat strength, and the capability to organise emulation activities of party committees and committees at all levels; promoting the roles and responsibilities of officers in charge in leading and directing agencies and units to implement emulation contents and goals. Promoting the emulation movement entitled “Skilful mass mobilisation” and other emulation activities in the policies on gratitude and military’s families, ensuring the material and spiritual life of soldiers, especially those who are on guard, making them feel secure and devote their best to building the Army and the Service. Strengthening the protection of internal politics while building politically safe agencies and units. Regularly consolidating and improving the operational efficiency of the emulation Councils, Boards, and Teams at all levels as well as mass organisations; effectively implementing the Regulation on Grassroots Democracy, creating an enthusiastic and widespread emulation atmosphere to encourage agencies and units to fulfil their tasks.

Secondly, emulating to successfully complete the tasks of education and training, airspace management, flight management and operation, combat readiness to firmly protect the national airspace. Agencies, units, and schools continue to strongly renovate contents, forms, and methods of emulation in tasks and breakthrough stages; combining the goals, requirements, and contents of regular emulation and peak emulation with the implementation of the viewpoints, goals, tasks, and measured set out in Resolution No. 1659-NQ/QUTW on “Improving the quality of training in the 2023-2030 period and beyond” and Resolution No. 1657-NQ/QUTW on “Innovating education and training to meet the requirements and tasks of building the Army in the new situation” issued on 20^th December 2022 by the Central Military Commission and Resolution No. 227-NQ/ĐU issued on 29^th September 2016, by the AD-AF’s Party Committee on “Strengthening leadership in training, flight safety assurance and preventing flight accidents and threats to flight safety”. The emulation work should be continuously and comprehensively organised with specific focus; importance is attached to emulation in education and training, exercises, flight management and operation, combat readiness, airspace protection, etc. at all-level agencies, units, and schools, especially those at the grassroots level, including detachments and squadrons, thus motivating the whole Service to successfully complete all assigned tasks. Continuing to promote the emulation movements entitled “Good teaching, effective learning, strict discipline, productive scientific research, and good service work” and “Innovate teaching, creative learning, substantive examination and assessment” in AD-AF schools. Building exemplary agencies, units, and schools in terms of flight management, education and training, combat readiness associated with regularity, law and discipline observance, and safe units, thus creating a profound change in building comprehensively strong, “exemplary and typical” units. Taking task completion in education and training, airspace management, flight management and operation, combat readiness, and airspace safety as the criteria for evaluating the results of emulation goals and contents in agencies, units, and schools.

Thirdly, promoting emulation to ensure adequate and timely technical and logistic work to serve multiple tasks, especially the task of managing and protecting the national airspace. Being a technical and combat service that possesses a large number of modern weapons and technical equipment, operating in a large area and coordinating with other forces requires party committees and commanders at all levels to promote emulation in technical and logistic assurance to meet requirements and tasks in the new situation. In terms of technical work, it is necessary to closely combine emulation activities with the implementation of the Campaign entitled “Managing and exploiting weapons and technical equipment in a good, sustainable, safe, and economical manner and Traffic Safety”. Continuing to concretise and effectively implement emulation movements, including “Creative youth in the mastery of science and technology”, “Promoting technical innovations”, etc. Combining emulation of the exploitation and mastery of weapons and technical equipment with emulation of research and realisation of scientific and technological projects, improvements, and themes to improve, repair, produce, and synchronise weapons and technical equipment for missiles, radars, aircraft, warning systems, and airspace-protection systems in order to not only reduce the costs of production and expand the operational span but also improve technical and tactical capacities of weapons and equipment. Regarding logistic work, it is necessary to continue to innovate and improve the quality of the emulation movement entitled “the Military Logistics Branch follows Uncle Ho’s teachings”, ensuring adequate and timely materials and logistic equipment for multiple tasks, with priority given to the tasks of combat readiness, training, exercises, competitions and sports festivals, search and rescue, disease prevention and control, etc. Successfully organising emulation movements in the branches of military supplies, military transportation, military petroleum, military barracks, and military medicines; practising thrift and preventing waste, striving to fulfil the emulation goals, contributing to the Service’s successful completion of all assigned tasks.

Fourthly, importance is attached to the work of preliminary, summary, commendation, and replication of exemplary individuals to motivate the AD-AF to complete the task of managing the national airspace. Emulation and commendation serve as vital content and motivation to promote the development of agencies, units, and schools. Therefore, party committees and commanders at all levels should well organise preliminaries and summaries of the Determination-to-win Emulation Movements periodically or yearly, or after peak emulation associated with programmes and campaigns. Importance is attached to the implementation of central political tasks, including education and training, scientific research, airspace management, flight management and operation, combat readiness, handling of airborne situations, and protection of the national airspace. In preliminaries and summaries, accurately assessing the results achieved and clearly defining limitations as well as objective and subjective causes to draw lessons; timely praising and commending collectives and individuals with successful task completion in emulation movements.

Additionally, agencies and units should effectively implement the plan to build and replicate exemplary models, “good people, good deeds” examples; reviewing and supplementing criteria to meet the responsibilities and tasks of different objects and units. Importance is attached to all the four stages of “discovering - fostering - building – replicating” to ensure that the requirements are demanding, sustainable, comprehensive, focused, and substantive. Closely combining the building and replication of exemplary models in emulation movements with exemplary models in studying and following Ho Chi Minh’s thought, morality, and style; successfully implementing the Campaign entitled “Promoting traditions and devoting talents, deserving to be “Uncle Ho’s Soldiers” in the new situation” to create a profound change in the awareness, responsibility, and task performance, especially the task of managing and protecting the national airspace, deserving the tradition of a “Hero of the People’s Armed Forces” unit.

Lt. Gen. NGUYEN VAN HIEN, Member of the Party Central Committee, Member of the Central Military Commission, Commander of the AD-AF